sauce is served with many articles of food, and fish are often cooked in
it.

When the Japanese housekeeper reaches home again she finds that her
servants have finished their simple duties. Englishwomen always wonder what
there is in a Japanese house for servants to do. There are no fires to lay,
no furniture to polish and clean, no carpets to sweep, and no linen to wash
and mend; so Japanese servants spend much time chatting to each other, or
sewing new kimonos together, or playing chess. As a rule, there are many
more servants than are necessary to do the work. This is because servants
are very cheap. There are always plenty of girls who are ready to fill the
lower places if they can obtain food and clothes for their services, and
the upper servants only receive small sums, sometimes as low as six or
eight shillings a month.

If a servant wishes to leave her employment, she never gives direct notice
to her mistress. That would be the height of rudeness. Instead she begs
permission to visit her home, or a sick relation, or some one who needs
her assistance. Upon the day that she should return a long and elaborate
apology for her non-arrival is sent, saying that, most unhappily, she
cannot be spared from her home or her post of duty. It is then understood
that she has left.

In a similar fashion, no mistress tells a servant that she will not suit. A
polite explanation that it will be inconvenient to accept her services at
the moment is sent through a third party.

In the evening the whole family, servants included, gather in the main room
of the house. The master and mistress sit near the hibachi (the stove)
and the andon (the big paper lantern); the maids glide in and sit at a